For all the buzz it's getting, the smartphone isn't yet the dominant type of cellphone — but it won't be long until it is. Every day, more people upgrade from simpler phones to these more capable devices.

Earlier this year, Verizon executives said 26 percent of the phones on their network are smartphones, but they expect that number to pass 50 percent before the year is out.

One of the reasons people are willing to buy a more expensive device and then pay an additional monthly fee for data access is the ability to run software applications on the phone. These apps dramatically extend its capabilities in useful and entertaining ways. A smartphone is a tabula rasa, and there are literally hundreds of thousands of apps for the iPhone and Android platforms that can make a phone do almost anything you like.

But with that many available, how do newbies figure out which ones to install first on their shiny new phones? I've come up with a list of six iPhone and Android apps that every new smartphone owner should have.

Find My iPhone ­- Free, Apple, iPhone.

Locate My Droid - Free, LocateMyDroid, Android.

This kind of app, which helps you find a missing or stolen phone, should be the first thing you install. Both Find My iPhone and Locate My Droid work the same way, showing you the current location of your phone on a map. Both the iPhone and Android apps can play a loud sound on the phone - even if the volume is muted - so you can locate it if it's nearby. And the iPhone app lets you lock the phone and even wipe it clean of personal information if it falls into the wrong hands.

Ever come across something you want to read online, but you don't have time right then? With Instapaper and Read It Later, you can tag an item in your Web browser and then read it at your convenience on your phone. Both apps let you add buttons to your browser's toolbar that store the address in a special queue. When you call the story up in the app, it presents it in a clean, very readable format .

Kindle - Free, Amazon.com, iPhone/Android.

Even if you don't have one of Amazon's popular e-readers, you can still read Kindle books on your smartphone. Download this app and you can access books you buy via the Web on the iPhone, or straight out of the app on the Android version. The app also keeps track of where you are in a book, so you can start reading on your Kindle - or on Kindle apps available for your Mac or PC - and then pick up where you left off.

If you don't have a Netflix account, this app alone may be reason to get one. Watch an ever-growing selection of movies and TV shows streamed to your phone for as little as $7.99 a month. The quality of the video is quite good (and at its best when you've got a fast Wi-Fi or 4G connection). The Android version was released last week and for now only works on some phones: HTC Incredible, Nexus One, Sprint/HTC EVO 4G, the T-Mobile G2 and Samsung's Nexus S. You'll also want to be running the latest version of Android available for those devices. The latest version of the app now enables subtitles for some movies.

Dragon Dictation - Free, Nuance, iPhone.

Android phones already have voice recognition built in, allowing you to speak commands and dictate emails, SMS messages and social media updates. Dragon Dictation brings the same capability to the iPhone. Tap the app, speak your piece, and Dragon converts it to text with impressive accuracy. You can then send it straight to a text or email message, or copy it to the clipboard for use in any other apps.

SoundHound - Free, SoundHound, iPhone/Android.

Of all the apps on my iPhone, this is the one that most wows my non-smartphone-owning friends. If you hear a song playing you don't recognize, fire up SoundHound and let it "listen" to the tune. In a few seconds, it will come back with the song and performer, and the iPhone version lets you buy it through iTunes. It will even work in noisy environments - I've used it to pick out jukebox songs in a bar - and is great for identifying songs being played on TV. It will even identify tunes you sing or hum, turning the app into great party game. Which of your friends can actually sing on key?